Bears In The Heavens

Yesterday I finished the binding on this very cute baby quilt. I was watching TV at the time and pricked myself quite a few times so had to break out the blue bandaids. Note to self... Needles are sharp!! I machine quilted it myself and didn't enjoy the experience at all. I can see the smerk on your face Bernadette. The machine just went way too fast for my hands to keep up. I'll have to spend a day practicing before I attempt another one.

I didn't do anything to the blue sky because I like the puffiness of leaving it. The backing is a nice warm flannelette.

It's now hanging nicely in my sewing room. Now all i need is some kiddies to enjoy it... Hmmm...

I've also machine sewn on the binding to my 'Lime and Soda' and 'Chloes Quilt' ready to be hand finished. Pretty exciting to think i could get another 2 quilts finished before the end of the coming week.

Would you like to see my passport?

Well it may be my passport currently in it but it's part of a present for a friend of mine that loves elephants. I got the tutorial at BunnyBum. It's so simple yet so effective. Because you could see through the white of the elephant fabric i just had to add a piece of white fabric in the middle. Yes, the elephant does have cup cakes coming out of it's trunk.

I decided to make the passport cover tonight as i already had the sewing machine out. The boyfriend and i went shopping today for supplies for his Kokoda trek. Thus he's training has made him lose weight (running in the family lately) so he needed new jeans which i had to take up... Plus a few of his other jeans that miraculously appeared for the same treatment. I'm a good girlfriend.

Material Goodness...

The postman kindly gave me 3 parcels this week with material in them... Yes 3!!!

First off is my Amitie VIP... This is my first drop... It's all from the Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party range.... I don't have a clue what to do with it yet..

I ordered some material from an ebay seller for my stash....

There's a few gem's in there. My friend loves elephants so i got some elephant fabric then went a little overboard with everything else in the little ebay store. They were cheap so i couldn't resist.

Then an order came from America....

As soon as i saw this range i knew i needed some... It's Heather Ross's Mendocino collection... My favourite is the yellow at the front...

I've been buying so many fun fabrics at the moment because i keep seeing all the fun and functional things so many people are making around the place and i want to join in the fun... so soon I'll go find a million tutorials to teach me how to make a million different things out of them all... At least i wont be bored... Although there is now a temporary ban on fabric purchases... Don't know how long that will last...

What i accomplished on the couch....

Yep... I've completed another 2. They look good when I'm doing them but i try not to look too closely at them when I'm done.

How adorable are those duckies...
I've also photographed my little helps. I tried to avoid buying this hoop because i thought it would strech my fabric too much but it's perfect because it takes 2 seconds to move it as i don't have to keep undoing a screw like on my other hoop. The other help is the disappearing ink. It saves me from wetting my creation although i have to go over it every now and again before it completely fades, but at least it pushes me to get it finished. I also roll up my stitcheries and put them in a snap lock bag so the ink lasts longer.
I should probably fluff up the couch where my impression is... and give the cushion a break. I'm off to do things on my never ending To-Do List... I swear if i didn't have it nothing would get done around here.

Cupcake and Tea Swap package arrives..

I recieved my goodies from my swap partner Mollycupcakes for Rachael rabbits cupcake and tea swap. I was so excited to rip the beautiful red and white pokka dot package open that i didn't take a photo of it. But this is what i found inside...

I just love the pin cushion with some pins on there representing sprinkles. There's also some beautiful strawberry tea that i'll have tonight. It's so perfect as i don't drink regular tea and just love herbal tea etc. How cute is the matching door stop and cupcake spoon. Plus a bath bomb and a beautiful card. Thanks Catherine. You've done so well with my preferences of pink and red.

It's cheered me up since I had to return to work today after having nearly 3 weeks off... Lucky me.. It doesn't feel like that long since i was last there... How time flies... Good times on the couch... Memories...

A reason to get some fresh air...

Last Saturday I went into Brunswick street to spoil Mr Maiden Ramblings for his recent birthday.. unfortunately, due to a cold, he wasn't in the mood and didn't like anything. But guess what i got....


I've been talking myself into getting 'Betty' for about a year now but when i saw her all made up with no one giving her love i just had to have her. Complete with a bell that goes "Ding Dong" and a basket. I giggle everytime i ring the bell.


We walked around Brunswick st while they gave her the once over. But unfortunately my Mazda couldn't fit her... grrr.. half a tyre was sticking out. So i pleaded for a friend to come with his ute. Lucky we saw him in Brunswick St earlier, considering he lives near us, nearly an hour away. Things happen for a reason.


I have so far kept to my resolution of riding her once a day to the shops. I want to stop using the car locally unless it's raining of course... or windy... I hate the wind... anyway it was all going good until last night when I rode just that little bit further to my friend Sharon's house where i encounted a hill. Not bad when your in a car... but on a bike being rode by someone that has got a little unfit lately because she has got into her sewing so much... it was hell... but i made it.. barely.. I rang the boy begging to be picked up from Sharon's... but he refused to take me home and told me i could do it. So off i set after some intense re-hydration. And i didn't die. Very proud of myself.


A couple of days ago when i was all ready to go to the shops, my best friend showed up with her dog going for a walk. Being a bad mother, i choose riding beside her instead of taking my dog Rupert. Bad move. Rupert loves his friend Whiskey so much that while we were gone he managed to squeeze under the front gate and cross a main road (by Bacchus Marsh standards) and end up on said best friends door step. We didn't find him for about half an hour because we didn't think that he would have crossed that road. Poor fellow. He must of freaked out when he realised we wern't there... and I'd like to think that he stopped at the main road and looked right, left, and right again before crossing...

I used to be a pair of bed socks...

I think he prefers to be hugged rather than being stood on. He is just so huggable... I used the tutioral here. Ive known about this tutorial for a while and when i saw these socks at the $2 shop they were just screaming to be made into a monkey. He just looks so naked compared to others I've seen.

I'm very excited... My Chloes and lime and soda quilts have just come back from being quilted by Bernadette. So they're going to keep me busy. Any excuse to keep me sitted in front of the TV is good.

Some inspirational cakes...

I had a little giggle when i found a great blog called Cake wrecks.

This game actually got banned in Australia. The game involves a main character seeking bloody vengeance on gang-filled streets, firing automatic weapons and picking up women along the way. A great inspiration for a 4 year old.

A talented cake maker who must be color blind.. The blog has the full story behind the cake here.

Hmm... why doesn't everyone have this as their wedding cake..

My Maiden stitchery...

Ahh... to finish my first stitchery... I do have to say i am very proud of myself... I think i speak for everyone when i say that when you do something for the first time you don't know if you'll either enjoy the process or the end result. And I love it. I loved doing it in front of the TV and have to confess that last week i spent a night in beautiful Sunny Cairns and may have spent the majority of the day in my room doing the stitchery. I had to drag myself out to get a ice-cream and watch the million Pelicans that were in the wetlands in the low tides. Please don't look to closely. Apart from doing 1 cross stitch in year 9 (Winnie the Pooh) this is the only stitchery i have done. One thing I learnt was that Stem stitch doesn't work too well on small flowers. Lesson learnt.
It's from a stitchery book by Bronwyn Hayes called "Sunshine In Your Pocket". Rachel at Four Wise Monkeys did it in the red work and it looked awesome... so monkey see monkey do.. Thanks for the inspiration Rachel..

I love mail... I received this pattern and off cuts from Kristen Doren. Thanks Kristen. I now have to decide as to whether i buy the fabric that Kristen used or see what i have in my stash. Hmmm... Maybe i should do both. That would be the easy option.

Jumping to be used

After so many people saying their trade secret was a bias tape maker i was thrilled that i invested in some.... I actually bought them at the Melbourne quilt and craft fair a few weeks ago... (I'm a bit slow at posting about them I know).. I can't wait to use them... I've been looking at the tutorials people have been putting up about them everywhere. After sewing together a oven glove recently i realised the boring one color bindings that are out there...

Some other great buys from the Quilt fair were these great fabrics... I have looked at the Kristen Doran owl fabric for so long and couldn't pass up the chance to score some.

All the fabrics are medium weight, I just have to decide what special things to make out of them. I just LOVE linen blends at the moment.